Normally, 650,000 tourists flock to the site in the town of Wattens in Austria’s mountainous Tyrol region every year.But the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t only left it deserted — it has also magnified much deeper issues for the company.

Exactly 125 years after founder Daniel Swarovski developed a machine to cut glass to shimmer like diamonds, his great-great grandchildren now reign over a diversified operation — offering rhinestones to fashion brands, binoculars to hunters, and jewellery and crystal figurines of characters from Mickey Mouse to Princess Leia.But CEO Robert Buchbauer says drastic change is now needed.”We are forced to reimagine and rescale our entire Swarovski business,” Buchbauer tells AFP at the Wattens HQ, framed by a selection of Swarovski-embellished robes.

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